The women's volleyball final of 2002 Busan Asaid was replayed Sunday in Doha
after China toppled South Korea in straight sets.
The defending champion China established a comfortable leading after taking
the opening set 25-15 with powerful serving and dreadful spikes of the ace
spikers Yang Hao and Wang Yimei.
The South Koreans failed to cope with Chinese's big serving and quick
attacks, going down 15-25 in the following set.
They fought back strongly at the first half of the do-or-die third set,
following China closely 10-11 and 12-13 with stunning spikes of their rising
star, 16-year-old spiker Kim Yeon Koung.
However, the Chinese withheld the fierce counter-attacks with solid defense
and powerful serving, marching from 21-15 to 24-18 in lead, when China's head
coach Chen Zhonghe sent its second line-up in court. A spike from Chu Jinlin
sealed the win for China in the 68-minute tussle.
"Our opponents were not in good condition and they did not play their best,
especially in the defense part, which left a comfortable room for our
attacking," said Chen Zhonghe.
Kim Myeong Soo, head coach of South Korea attributed the poor performance of
his players for injuries and less time of recovery from the busy season.
"But I'm happy to see that my players have fought to the end since the very
beginning of the match," said Kim.
In another women's match of the day, Chinese Taipei, who lost 2-3 to South
Korea, found their confidence back after outgunning Vietnam 3-1, while the
Vietnamese suffered a second loss after the match against China, staying bottom
in Pool A.
Nine teams are split into two groups to battle for the women's volleyball
championship, with China, South Korea, Chinese Taipei and Vietnam playing in
Group A and Kazakhstan, Japan, Thailand, Tajikistan and Mongolia in Group B.